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Introduction to Image Processing

Image processing is a method to perform some operations on an image, in order to get an enhanced image or to extract some useful information from it. It is a type of signal processing in which input is an image and output may be image or characteristics/features associated with that image. Nowadays, image processing is among rapidly growing technologies. It forms core research area within engineering and computer science disciplines too.

Image processing basically includes the following three steps:

·        Importing the image via image acquisition tools;

• Analyzing and manipulating the image;
• Output in which result can be altered image or report that is based on image analysis.

There are two types of methods used for image processing namely, analogue and digital image processing.

1.      Analogue image processing can be used for the hard copies like printouts and photographs. Image analysts use various fundamentals of interpretation while using these visual techniques.

2.      Digital image processing techniques help in manipulation of the digital images by using computers. The three general phases that all types of data have to undergo while using digital technique are pre-processing, enhancement, and display, information extraction.

Digital image: - An image is a two-dimensional function f(x, y), where x and y are the spatial (plane) coordinates, and the amplitude of f at any pair of coordinates (x, y) is called the intensity of the image at that level.

           If x, y and the amplitude values of f are finite and discrete quantities, we call the image a digital image. A digital image is composed of a finite number of elements called pixels, each of which has a particular location and value.